Our History
The People's City Mission (PCM) has been a vital part of the Lincoln community for almost 100 years. We were founded in 1907 by a number of local churches in the city. They wanted to demonstrate Christ's love to people who were impoverished and homeless by providing them with emergency assistance of food, shelter, and clothing.

Over the years, our purpose has remained the same: bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the poor and homeless, and demonstrate His love for them by meeting basic human needs. Over the years, more than five hundred thousand people have been assisted by our ministry.

Here are some interesting facts about PCM:

1909 - We purchased our first facility in downtown Lincoln near N and 9th Street. This
building had been a well-known house of prostitution called Lydia's House. It proved to be a great location for Christian outreach. Our first program focused on providing food and shelter to transient men. Many of them were German-Russian immigrants, and PCM assisted these early settlers of Lincoln with English classes and a German Sunday School.

1928 - Our services were significantly expanded during the Great Depression, when many people in the city sought help with food and shelter. There were few government programs in place to deal with this crisis, and we became the primary provider of emergency assistance to the city. Thousands of individuals were helped by PCM through this difficult period.

1960s - We added a number of new programs, including:
• Advocacy and support of Native Americans
• Family housing for women with children
• Rehabilitation program for alcoholics and drug addicts
• Lincoln Police Chaplaincy

1987 - We relocated to a larger facility at 110 "Q" Street. As a result, the number of beds available at PCM increased from 60 to 110. Over $1 million dollars in community support was raised, which completely paid for this expansion.

1990 - We opened the Mission Distribution Center to distribute groceries, clothing and household items to needy families in the community.

2002 - We expanded our primarily facilities at 110 Q Street to accommodate more people and house a longer term rehabilitation program for women. This expansion increased our bed count from 110 to 210.

2004 - We opened the HIS Center (Homeless Intervention Service) to provide overnight shelter for chronically homeless men. This increased our total number of beds from 210 to 260. We also took over the operations of DayWatch, a day housing program for transient men. Our services include shelter, lunch, dinner, laundry and mail services.

Efforts to End Homelessness
Homelessness has been an important issue in Lincoln for over 100 years. The People's City Mission was the city's first provider of services to people needing help with food and shelter. Since then, many other organizations have formed to help those who are homeless and impoverished in our community.

Over the last decade, homelessness has grown as a social problem in our community. A confluence of events in the 80s and 90s — decreases in livable wage jobs, deinstitutionalization of people who experience mental illness, and severe reductions in federal funding for housing — have contributed to increases in our homeless population. In addition, Lincoln is experiencing significant problems with family violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and a lack of affordable housing. The bottom line — homelessness is becoming a major part of our local landscape.

Homelessness Has Many Faces
More than 1,800 people lack housing on any given night in Lincoln, and close to 500 people are actually homeless (no where to go). It is reported that 1 in 4 women are suffering from some form of domestic violence, and an estimated 400 to 600 women and children are living in dangerous conditions. There are over 200 chronically homeless men in our city at any one time. Many of them are struggling with drugs and alcohol addiction. Without shelter, they stay under bridges, in parks, and in abandoned places around town. There are growing numbers of families and individuals near or at the poverty line. They live one small incident away from losing their footing and falling into a homeless condition. People with mental health problems are not hospitalized unless their condition is severe. Those with moderate issues are often unemployable, and living on the streets because government assistance is lacking for this group of individuals.

Homelessness Costs Everyone
Each year, millions of tax dollars are spent caring for homeless people through public services like 911, hospital emergency rooms, jails, mental health hospitals, detoxification programs, child protective services, and more. Cost studies around the country have shown that may homeless individuals and families can succeed and become self-sufficiency if they get appropriate support. For instance, the use of emergency services by homeless people declines sharply when they obtain transitional or permanent housing. Solving the issue of homelessness in our city makes good sense (and cents). It will reduce the overall living costs in Lincoln and improve the lives of people living in difficult and desperate situations.

Ending Homelessness Requires Commitment
Ending homelessness in Lincoln requires a collective commitment by everyone. We need long-term, sustainable solutions that move us beyond simply managing episodes of homelessness as they occur. Our first commitment should be that every person living in Lincoln has a place to go for food and shelter, regardless of their status, gender, age, race or creed. We also need public commitment to resolving (or at least reducing) some of the leading causes of homelessness, such as domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and affordable housing. Finally, we need to examine the assumptions under which we have approached homelessness in the past, critically assess our activities and initiatives, and ultimately, to do business differently through changing systems, redirecting existing resources, and securing commitments for additional funding.

Financial Responsibility
The People's City Mission subscribes, and adheres to the seven standards of responsible stewardship by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability:

Standard #1 - Every member organization shall subscribe to a written statement of faith, clearly affirming its commitment to the evangelical Christian faith.

Standard #2 - Every member organization shall be governed by a responsible board, the majority of whose members shall not be employees/staff and/or related by blood or marriage to such, which shall meet at least semi-annually to establish policy and review its accomplishments.

Standard #3 - Every member organization shall obtain an annual audit performed by an independent public accounting firm in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) with financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Standard #4 - Every member organization shall have a functioning audit review committee appointed by the board, a majority of whom shall not be employees/staff and/or related by blood or marriage, for the purpose of reviewing the annual audit and reporting its findings to the board.

Standard #5 - Every member organization shall provide a copy of its current audited financial statements upon written request.

Standard #6 - Every member organization shall conduct activities with the highest standards of integrity and avoid conflicts of interest.

Standard #7 - Every member organization shall ensure that its fundraising appeals clearly identify the purposes and programs to which the donations will be applied and shall ensure that the set donations are used for the purposes for which they were raised.

Mission Staff
• Pastor Tom Barber, Executive Director
• Jerry Owen, Associate Director
• Nora Ragon, Human Resources and Volunteer Administrator
• Renita Tyrance, Director of Domestic Violence Services,
  Manager of Women's Transitional Living Program
• Chuck Borden, Recovery and Counseling Director
• Natalie Kopf Byford, Family Shelter Manager
• Todd Schmeeckle, Men's Shelter Manager
• Gene McCain, Operations Manager
• Rick Ragsdale, Distribution Center Manager
• Beth Vavrina, Project Manager for People's City Mission Health Clinic and
  Grant Coordinator
• Barbara McCall, Director of Donor Development
• Sonny Hill, Director of Church Relations and Ministry
• Sheila Thompson, Administrative Assistant
• Rebecca Weber, Director of Fundraising and Special Events
• Don French, Director of Special Projects

Related Staff
• Sasha Vodolazkyy, General Manager Mission Bean Coffee Corporation
• Edie McNeese, Director of the Curtis Center

The Curtis Center is part of a separate corporation, PCM Housing Corporation and is run by the Curtis Center LLP. Mission Bean Coffee Corporation is a separate, for profit corporation.

Mission Board
• Larry Zimmerman, Southview Baptist, Board President
• Cyndi Lamm, Gates of Praise, Board Vice President
• Charles Lamphear, Capital City Christian, Board Treasurer
• Dr. James Fosnaugh, Crestwood Christian, Board Secretary
• Chuck Langston, Radiant Springs, Board Member
• Ron Grebe, First Evangelical Covenant, Board Member
• Dr. Paul Shoemaker, First Church of the Nazarine, Board Member
• Bill Anstine, First Evangelical Free, Board Member
• Kolade Alabi, Allon Chapel, Board Member
• Lloyd Mather, St. Marks United Methodist, Board Member
• Dr. Tom Martin, Faith Bible, Board Member
• Bill Lewis, Berean, Board Member
• Bob Schmieding, Holy Savior Lutheran, Board Member
• Gary Moulton, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Board Member
• Cassie McMahan, Faith Lutheran Church, Board Member

Foundation Board
• Mark Walz, President
• Andrew Loudon, Vice President
• Mardy McCullough, Secretary/Treasurer
• Robert Milligan
• Arthur Knox
• Mildred Curtis
• Phil Rihanek
• John Watson
• Richard Nelson
• Gary Moulton
• Ronald Hampton
• Paul Kardell
• James Nissen
• Stacy James